‘Rez Ball’ Director Sydney Freeland, Cast On How Film Bolsters Native American & Queer Storytelling

"Rez Ball" directed by Sydney Freeland takes to Chuska, New Mexico, home to the high school basketball team the Chuska Warriors. With Native American heritage rich in their blood, they face a challenge when they lose their star player Nataani (Kusem Goodwind) who is also Jimmy Holiday’s (Kauchani Bratt) teammate and best friend. As Jimmy grieves, he navigates his rocky relationship with his mother Gloria (Julia Jones).

Meanwhile, Warriors coach Heather Hobbs (Jessica Matten) is at a career and life crossroads. She attempts to bolster the team after their devastating loss, trying to whip them into shape while dodging harsh judgment from team fans, as well as dealing with a breakup from her partner.

"Rez Ball" is inspired by the book “Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation” and the New York Times article by Michael Powell. Freeland, who co-wrote the film with Sterlin Harjo, spoke to GLAAD about how the movie goes beyond Native American representation on film and TV.

“I think one of the things that’s really great about this is that it’s the genre… it’s a sports movie,” Freeland explained. “A lot of people play basketball… or even the high school experience of playing high school athletics. That was kind of the entry point that makes it accessible and can invite audiences who aren’t necessarily from this walk of life to experience this film.”

She continued, “It was really about drawing from our own personal experiences growing up, and that meant showing the good stuff and the not-so-good stuff… and it was just about being as real and honest as possible.”

With the character of Coach Hobbs navigating her breakup, there is a subtle queer presence with the character. Freeland said they wanted to portray her in a “matter-of-a-fact” style. “We weren’t trying to break new ground in terms of our storytelling. [We were] trying to make things as quote, unquote normal as possible. That was kind of the idea behind that.”

The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival at the beginning of September, also stars Amber Midthunder, Cody Lightning, Dallas Goldtooth, Ernest David Tsosie, and Zoey Reyes. For Matten to see a film like this steeped in Native American culture was special, but she was also grateful for how the film allows these characters a safe space to grieve after tragedy.

“The safe space is the court in a lot of ways,” Matten said. “The friendship between these boys… I think that’s something I would have loved to have seen growing up because it was so isolating at times. You think you’re the only one going through it….a film like this is showing how you could collectively do it together.”

For Bratt he had never seen a film like "Rez Ball" and he said he would have loved to see a movie like this when he was younger. “I would have just been so inspired and filled with so much pride,” he told GLAAD. “It would have been something for me to share with my friends who maybe aren’t familiar with the culture that I come from, and to share that with them.”

"Rez Ball" debuts on Netflix on September 27.